


Routine

by Fujiwara_no_Seimei



Category: Ookiku Furikabutte
Genre: Bath Sex, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-07-31
Updated: 2010-07-31
Packaged: 2017-10-10 21:26:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/104452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fujiwara_no_Seimei/pseuds/Fujiwara_no_Seimei
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They're twenty-one years old, and still stupid as all hell.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Under Water

Abe Takaya stepped in to his apartment with a bag of groceries in one hand and a suitcase in the other. He called out that he was home as he toed off his shoes, but got no response– not that he'd expected one anyway. He slipped into his slippers and proceeded to the kitchen, where he put his things down on the counter and pressed the blinking button on the message machine before unpacking what he'd purchased.

The landlord wanted to let them know he would be fumigating on Thursday. Tajima Yuuichirou, star cleanup hitter for the Yomiuri Giants, wanted to see them for lunch next week while he was in town. Finally, his partner, Mihashi Ren, was calling to let Abe know that he would be practicing late, and that he had an interview at seven-thirty so please make dinner for yourself and I'll be home around nine.

Abe sighed when he pressed the "clear" button on the machine and loosened his tie. Dinners together were rare when your partner was a professional baseball player, but tonight would be the sixth night in a row that Mihashi was coming home late. Abe was extra grumpy because seeing Yuuichirou was always such a production– and one that he felt generally left out of even when he was there, the other two content to babble about baseball gossip at breakneck speed while Abe looked on quietly, sipping his soft drink.

No, Abe would likely sit that reunion out, and mark off another bit of Mihashi's rare free time that he would not be able to enjoy with him.

Abe resigned himself to reheating yesterday's fried rice. It hadn't been that good the first time, either, since Mihashi hadn't been home to cook it. Abe's infrequent attempts at housewifery were generally overwhelming failures, and the cooking was no exception, so he was happy that Mihashi's mother was kind enough to visit once a week and tidy up and bring over decent meals.

Mihashi always told Abe that he should just go out or order something if his own meals were that bad. They had plenty of money, he'd say, and Abe would recite his usual mantra of "just because we have it doesn't mean we need to find ways to spend it."

Abe flicked on the television, even though he didn't intend to watch it, and leaned back into the couch with a detective novel over his meal.

-o-o-o-o-

"Takaya?" rang a quiet voice.  
It was immediately identifiable- shaky by nature and not by situation. Only as loud as it needed to be. Sweet, and pleasant.  
"Takaya, you should go to bed."  
Abe's eyes blinked open. Past Mihashi's face, he could see the wall clock ticking away at the tenth hour of the night, visible by a strip of light from a streetlamp outside of the window.  
"When did you get home?" Abe asked, low and quiet in the darkness.  
"Just a minute ago."  
"You smell like beer."  
"Sorry."  
Abe sat up and smacked his lips lazily, unhappy with the unpleasant taste in his mouth. He rubbed the back of his neck.  
"It's not like you to drink."  
"Mm," Mihashi replied, absently turning over the book Abe had dropped on the floor at some indeterminate hour. "Yoshi wanted to go out for drinks with the infielders. I only had one drink, just to be polite. Didn't you read this one already?" Mihashi turned the book to show the cover to Abe, as if he wouldn't know what he'd been holding.  
Abe leaned in to kiss Mihashi on the nose, and ignored his question. "You want to take a bath first?"  
"Can we go together?" Mihashi replied. "I missed you all day."  
Abe smiled, because that's how things went every night, but he never stopped loving the routine.  
"Of course."

-o-o-o-o-

Abe was already sinking into the hot bathwater when Mihashi came in, naked for all but a towel he clutched at his chest to hide his modesty. Abe didn't make any effort to hide his staring as Mihashi crouched down to shower off.  
"Mmm," Abe said, rather unconsciously, when Mihashi bent over to draw a handful of shampoo from the bottle.  
"Don't stare," the pitcher said, scrubbing at his hair. "It's embarassing."

While it was true that Mihashi got embarassed, they both knew he didn't mean for Abe to actually stop staring. This was part of how this went. Mihashi loved the attention, and loved being watched– even if he'd never say that part out loud. And Abe loved watching. He especially loved the way the shampoo suds ran down Mihashi's well-toned arms and chest, in such a volume that there was no way Mihashi wasn't lathering it up that much intentionally. But neither would ever mention that either.  
Instead he silently appreciated his lover's body from a three foot distance, and Mihashi put on his usual show.

When he finally joined Abe in the tub, he made no point in hiding the fact that he was already half-hard. He slipped in front of Abe with his back against the larger man's chest, sighing as the hot water pulled him in.  
"Mmm," Abe said again, and his manhood twitched against Mihashi's backside.  
"We're both... kind of eager tonight, huh?" Mihashi said with a feigned shyness.  
"Seems so," Abe replied, sliding a hand around Mihashi's hip and down along the inside of his thigh, knuckles brushing very private parts inadvertently, but not unintentionally.  
"It's been a while," Mihashi said, sliding himself down so that his genitals pressed against Abe's hand, "since we've done it in here."  
"Just a couple of weeks," Abe said. He wrapped his hand around Mihashi's needy length.  
"You keep track," Mihashi said with a quiet smile and unreadable inflection.  
"Someone has to," Abe said, grinning.

He began stroking Mihashi gently, without urgency, and the recipient spread open his legs and shifted his body to get a hold on his partner's member in turn.  
"Mmm," Abe hummed, "that's nice."  
"We only have the oil in here," Mihashi said.  
"That's okay," Abe replied.  
"You don't like the way it feels afterwards," Mihashi said over quickening breaths, as if Abe needed to be told why he'd mentioned it in the first place.  
"Not in the mood to care," he said. "I want it now."  
The two kneeled up in the bath, a little too quickly, sending splashes of water over the edge of the tub. Abe leaned over the edge, exposing his backside to Mihashi.  
"Don't complain later," Mihashi said with a tinge of grumpiness as he spread the aforementioned oil on his fingers and cock.  
"I wo- umm..." Abe murmered as a finger went into him. "Won't."

Though this part was routine too, it was the one that Mihashi secretly relished. As he pressed around in Abe's opening, adding fingers when appropriate, pushing in to his knuckles when he could, he felt a little powerful, a little in control. One could never tell if the two were aware that Abe's position as the "man" of the household was a farce, that Mihashi was always the one in control all the time, but whether they pretended not to know it, or actually didn't, never actually mattered. Right now, Mihashi enjoyed every one of Abe's groans and squirms, and felt like the director of them, like a conductor over a wanton orchestra, and gave his lover's penis a tug as a reward for his responsiveness.

"Don't wait too long," Abe said breathily.  
"Don't be impatient," Mihashi said, capitalizing on the moment to talk back.  
"Please..." Abe asked, not because he was especially needy, but because he had learned that Mihashi got turned on by a little begging.  
"Just a little longer, or it'll hurt," he replied with great restraint, twisting three knuckles around with increasing urgency. It was a lie, but Abe was usurping his power with his directives.  
"Please, Ren, please. I need it," Abe recited convincingly. He did not particularly enjoy the begging, but he did enjoy the way it would entice Mihashi to lose his last bit of self-control and slam his dick into him.  
"Taka–"  
"Ren, hurry! I need you inside me!"  
And just like that, Mihashi was out with his fingers and in with his cock in one fluid motion, slamming Abe against the porcelain and sloshing more water onto the floor.  
"Ooooh..." Abe moaned.  
"Oh..." Mihashi echoed.  
"Do it hard this time," Abe said.  
Mihashi obliged, placing a few slow thrusts to get his grounding, then gripping Abe's hips and pounding away hard.  
"Oh...oh...fuck..." Abe moaned as Mihashi's cock pumped through his asshole, hitting that good spot hard and with debilitating frequency.  
"Yes, yes, yes," Mihashi said, echoing the quick slaps of hot, wet skin on hot, wet skin.  
Their moans echoed in the bathroom, harmonized by the sound of splashing water and the slap of skin.  
"Oh, oh, Takaya...I'm gonna..."  
"Yes, fuck, oh, oh God," Abe grunted, "fuck, don't forget about me!"  
"Ah!" Mihashi said, slipping an oily hand around Abe's length, pumping in time with their hurried thrusts.  
"Almost..." Mihashi heaved.  
"Yes!" Abe cried.  
Mihashi's cum rushed out into Abe with a hard, trembling thrust. His fingernails dug deep into Abe's hip as he rode out the waves of his orgasm with deep bucks of his quivering loins and unconscionable moans.  
"Ooh..." Mihashi said, slipping out and leaning over the edge of the tub. "Oh, God..."  
Abe grimaced. "Ren..."  
"Oh!" he yelped, turning back to his lover. "I'm sorry!"  
Even after two years of seasoned love making, Mihashi frequently forgot that his partner needed release too, and that he rarely came before Mihashi did.  
Abe sat back down in the water, leaning back into Mihashi in a position reversed from when they'd gotten in. Mihashi quickly wrapped his hand's around Abe's straining length, and jerked him off in a matter of seconds.

As they stepped out and towelled dry, Mihashi had the urge to comment on the tainted state of the water after all that, but couldn't think of a funny way to say it.


	2. Air

Mornings were usually hurried, disorganized messes, because Mihashi stayed in bed as long as he possibly could before getting up. It was at that moment, 6:20 AM, that Abe ripped off Mihashi's precious bedsheets and threw a pile of clean clothes onto him. God help everyone if Mihashi had to hunt for clean clothes in the morning, he'd never get to practice on time if he had to.

"Get up," Abe barked, as if the exchange of warm quilts for cold clothes was not enough of a missive.  
"Unnng," Mihashi groaned.

-o-o-o-o-

"Tajima called," Abe said over his coffee when Mihashi finally appeared in the kitchen, clothed and minimally groomed.  
"Oh?" he mumbled, sitting down and dragging the cup of tea that Abe had prepared toward him. "What'd he want?"  
"He's in town next week," Abe paused to put down his paper and pat down a more disobedient chunk of Mihashi's hair. "Wants to have lunch with you."  
"Oh," Mihashi said, sipping his tea. "Do we have eggs?"  
"You don't have time for eggs. Get something on the way."  
"Hrm," Mihashi mumbled. "You going to come to see Tajima?"  
"I don't really want to," Abe said.   
"Ah," Mihashi replied, as if it were a surprise.  
"It's quarter to seven, Ren."  
"Okay," Mihashi said, gulping down the last of his tea and heading for the door.  
"When will you be home?" Abe called.  
"Late," Mihashi said. "I'll call you at lunch?"  
"I'll be at a lunch meeting today. Leave a message on my cell."  
"Okay," Mihashi replied. He pulled open the door, then exclaimed a quick "oh!" before running back into the kitchen and kissing Abe goodbye.

When he finally left, Abe wondered if Mihashi would ever remember to kiss him before he put his shoes on, or it he would do that for the rest of his life.

He already knew the answer.

-o-o-o-o-

That night, Abe was in bed when Mihashi came home. He was no longer asleep, mostly because Mihashi was not a quiet person and there was no exception to that when he came in late at night, but also because Abe was always only ever half asleep when Mihashi was gone.

He rolled over when Mihashi finally made it to the bedroom.  
"Hey," Mihashi said as he began to strip in the dark.  
"It's eleven," Abe said sternly.  
"I know. I'm sorry," Mihashi said with earnest. He climbed into the bed, spooning against Abe's back.  
"You stink," Abe said.

He meant it in more than one way.

-o-o-o-o-

Abe had trouble focusing on work the next day. His penchant for analysis and strategy had clearly been his strength, and so he thrived as a marketing strategy consultant. But slow days in the office allowed his mind to wander, and today he wandered over to what reason Mihashi might have for drinking two nights in a row. Last night he had reeked of alcohol, as opposed to the night before when it was just the faint smell consistent with a single beer.

Abe was not the paranoid type as a teenager, but now that he was older, we wondered once and a while how long Mihashi would continue to love him. As Mihashi grew popular, composed, and sexy- his muscles rivalled Haruna's now- Abe grew conversely less attractive, and desireable. As far as he could tell, at least. He faded into the obscure mass of office drones, became rather unsociable, and gained too much weight from sitting all day. He feared every day that he would start looking like his father.

Because he was.

And now that Mihashi had stayed out for two nights in a row, smelling of alcohol even though he'd never been that fond of drinking- beer especially- he had more than his usual nagging fear that Mihashi would slip away from him. He wondered if mentioning it would make him seem too clingy. If Mihashi would feel accused or insulted. Or if Mihashi was keeping something from him, if he really wanted to know at all.

He was jarred from his abandonment fantasy when the phone rang.   
"Abe, Saitama Consultants, how can I help you?"  
"Takaya?" Mihashi said.  
"Oh, Ren."  
Mihashi paused, and Abe panicked a little. "Oh," was not a particularly loving greeting.  
"Sorry. How are you?"  
"G...good," Mihashi said. He had clearly been surprised by Abe's 'oh'.  
"Are you coming home on time?" Abe asked.  
Silence answered him.  
"Ren..."  
"I'm sorry, Takaya," he said mournfully. "I'll be on time tomorrow, I promise."  
"O...kay," Abe said. "Goodbye, then."  
"Bye."

Abe leaned back in his chair and sighed.  
"Wife giving you the slip at night?" his coworker, Kawasaki, asked, leaning against the wall of the cubicle. The question reiterated the fact that he was new to the company, everyone else knew Abe wasn't married. And apparently he hadn't caught the name "Ren."

"Roomate," Abe replied flatly. "It's nothing."  
"He lives with Mihashi from the Lions," another coworker spoke up.  
Kawasaki's eyes widened. "The Seibu Lions? The pitcher? Mihashi Ren? Holy shit!"  
Nearby coworkers laughed.  
"Really?"  
"Yes, really," Abe said, growing irritated at the routine.  
"They haven't lost a single game since he started in the rotation last season! Can you get an autograph for my son?" he asked.

"I don't think it would be hard, no. What's his name?" Abe couldn't count the number of times this happened, and this time his irritation was a degree higher than normal. Right now, he didn't want to be reminded that Mihashi was famous, or desirable, or wonderful.

Right now Abe felt like the opposite of all of those things, and wondered if Mihashi was just finally noticing.

-o-o-o-o-

That night, Mihashi came home at almost eleven, again. Abe was silent as Mihashi came in, undressed, and curled up next to him, though he smelled not of alcohol but of sweat and secondhand cigarette smoke. Mihashi must have presumed that Abe was asleep, because he said nothing, save for a sweet sounding murmur as he rubbed his face in between Abe's shoulder blades. Abe could not hide the shudder that came over him as he wondered, melodramatically, if Mihashi had been out looking for a woman who would make him a proper wife, someone with a nice body and good cooking, or if he'd already found one and had spent the evening with her.

Abe felt like a child.

"I know you're awake," Mihashi said meekly.  
Abe inhaled hard. "I feel like I haven't seen you in a week."  
"I'm sorry," Mihashi said, throwing his leg over Abe's hip and hugging him closer. "I told the guys I wasn't going to come out anymore after tonight."  
Abe rolled over and looked up at Mihashi. "Is it because I'm a nag?"  
Mihashi blinked. "No. No, it's fine. I missed you."

"I don't really understand why you've been going out all of a sudden," Abe said, with a little hesitation out of fearing that he sounded jealous. "You're getting tired of me."  
He regretted saying it as soon as the words passed his lips. An absolute _child._

"Takaya, no," Mihashi said, leaning up when he detected that they'd be having a 'talk.' " I'll never get tired of you. There was a lot happening this week. I love you." Mihashi tucked his face into Abe's shoulder. "I'm sorry I was being a bad boyfriend this week. I'll pay more attention to you, I promise."

"I still don't understand why you were drinking and at bars," Abe said, only slightly consoled and a lot petty.  
Mihashi became still for a second, which alarmed Abe, but then he sat up on his knees.

"I've been thinking," Mihashi said.  
Abe turned up on his elbow. "What?"  
"It's been hard," Mihashi said, "hiding you. Us."

"Ah," Abe said. He'd known keeping their relationship a secret would be difficult, and he wouldn't have worried about it if it wouldn't potentially effect Mihashi's career. Mihashi had bad memories of being an outcast on a team, and Abe would do anything to keep from seeing Mihashi go through it again.

"They bug me a lot, the guys do. About dating."  
"Oh," Abe said.  
"On Monday. I did go out with Yoshida. But also with his sister."  
"Wait, what?" Abe sat up all the way, perplexed.  
"Yoshi wanted me to take his sister out. He said she had her eye on me, and that I'd be crazy to not see her. I didn't know what else to do. I couldn't think of a good way to say no. And he's been a good friend to me, so, I didn't want to just turn him down without a reason."

"You went on a date and you didn't tell me?" Abe said, heat rising in his face.  
"It wasn't a date!" Mihashi pleaded. "I mean, Yoshi and Takahashi and Takahashi's girlfriend came too, and it was just to introduce us."  
"And?" Abe pressed, impatient.  
"And?" Mihashi repeated with a tinge of surprise, then his face turned to indignancy. "And _nothing_! I had one drink, talked to her a bit and excused myself. She was nice and all, but it's not like I was interested!"  
Abe sighed, feeling embarassed with himself for being jealous, and especially silly for being suspicious. One look at Mihashi and anyone could tell he would never be unfaithful. He was too loving to ever hurt someone.

"Takaya doesn't trust me?" Mihashi said, a little sadly.

Before his brain had time to deny it, he blurted, "But what about last night?"  
Mihashi frowned, worried.

"When I told Yoshi I wasn't interested, he got a little offended. He asked me what I didn't like about her, and so I made up something about her not being my type. I don't really know about these things, but he got all understanding and insisted that we go out again, but he was going to take me to a different kind of place."  
"It ended up being a way trashier bar. I guess he thought I meant I liked less refined women or something, because there were plenty there. He even bought a drink for one and told her it was from me. It was the grossest thing ever. They wouldn't let me leave. It was ridiculous."

"They're trying to fix you up?"  
"Yeah."  
Abe looked down for a minute, feeling guilty, feeling more childish.  
"I'm sorry... Ren."  
"I'm kind of sad, Takaya. That you thought I was cheating."  
"I didn't say-" Abe began. He stopped short when he realized he'd been all but saying it.  
"That's what you meant. You thought I was tired of you."

Abe realized he'd screwed up.

"It's my fault. I'm sorry," Abe said. "I'm just insecure."  
"What are you talking about?"

"Ren, what do you get out of this?"  
"What?" Mihashi's eyes grew wide, his expression indignant.  
"_Me_, Ren! What do you get out of being with me? I'm fat and boring, I don't like to hang out with your friends or go to bars, I can't even cook or do anything useful around the house."  
"Takaya, what-"  
"I fail at being a man, I fail at being a wife, I may or may not even be a good fuck-"  
"Takaya!" Mihashi shouted. "What are you doing? Don't ever," he shuddered, "ever suggest that I keep you around for...for..." his eyes welled up with tears, and he whispered a word he'd never used before in his life, "a _fuck_."

Then Abe realized he was only digging his hole deeper.

"You're a star, Ren. A pro. What am I?" Abe shouted. He was crying now.

Mihashi shook his head, staring with heartbroken disbelief. "You're the one," he said, hiccuping between words, "who loved me before I _was_."

And now, Abe realized, his failure was infinite.

"I'm with you," he said, determined but still upset, "because I _love_ you." Suddenly his voice grew soft again, and he hung his head. "I... don't know when I stopped... making that clear... but..."

Abe began shaking his head, and he wanted to speak, but words weren't coming out.

"...but I'll try harder, and I'll make sure you know. I won't go out at night anymore, I promise. And I don't have to see Tajima..."

It was then that Abe broke out into a total sob, burying his face in his hands and heaving. He couldn't speak, but he wanted to tell Mihashi that he was all wrong. That there was no reason for Mihashi to throw away his social life. That he was being selfish. His insecurity was making him make bad decisions.

"Don't cry," Mihashi said, wrapping his arms around his shuddering lover. "I'll make it better, I promise."

"Ren, no. No, this is my fault. I don't want you to stop doing the things you like, seeing your friends. I can't do that to you, I just..."  
Mihashi stroked Abe's head gently.

"Okay, okay. Just calm down. We'll figure it out."

It took a few minutes for Abe to ground himself again, to wipe away his tears, to find his voice again.

"I don't know how... to not be scared. This... is all my fault. I'm so insecure. I just don't understand how you can keep loving me."  
"Takaya," Mihashi said, sitting next to him on the bed and leaning into his shoulder, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you more about what I was doing. I wasn't keeping it from you."  
"I know, I-"  
"I'm not done."  
Abe nodded. Suddenly, Mihashi was the adult, shedding the act that he was a child managed by Abe.  
"I should have said more. But I think the problem isn't about me. I think you're just unhappy with yourself."  
Abe hung his head a little. It didn't sound wrong.  
"I've seen you for a total of a handful of hours this week, and you've managed to mention your weight five times."  
Abe realized that this was true.  
"You keep saying that you're boring. You're not happy working in that office. It's no wonder you'd think I wasn't interested in you if you're not even interested in you."  
"Oh, God," Abe said.  
"Takaya, we can fix this. In the mean time, I need you to understand that I'm never, ever, _ever_ going to leave you. Okay?"  
Abe nodded half-heartedly.  
Mihashi grabbed Abe's chin and raised it to look him in the eyes.  
"I love you."  
Abe nodded again.  
"I love you, too."

As they slept that night, Abe focused on Mihashi's scent more than he usually did. It was heavy, because he hadn't bathed, and he smelled like bar atmosphere. The lingering scent of tobacco was not unpleasant, not when it was mixed with Mihashi's lingering sweat.

He loved everything about Mihashi, and felt bad that a tiny part of him was jealous that Mihashi was living his life exactly how he wanted to and Abe was not. Abe had pulled Mihashi out of his own misery six years ago. Now he had no doubt that Mihashi was capable of doing the same for him.

It was routine.

**Author's Note:**

> Writing Mihashi as an adult is a hard task, and I wonder exactly how much he grows and matures in six years. I've written him pretty well-grounded and moderately well-spoken here, so hopefully it doesn't seem too out of character. I found this to be a very interesting challenge, as I like future-Mihashi just as well retaining all his stutters and quirks. I like to think that being a pro seasoned him as a member of society.


End file.
